Back in the United States

As you all know I have safely returned to the United States and to my home in Pennsylvania. The past month as an international volunteer has been the experience of a lifetime and has changed my life forever. The opportunity to be immersed in the culture of a foreign country is unlike anything I’ve previously encountered and has allowed me to meet truly wonderful people. I love the new friends I have made and will cherish the memories I have been given at Anjo Gabriel and Los Martincitos forever. Thank you to those who have made this experience unique and memorable for you will be in my heart and memories always.

In the coming days I will sharing more details about my experience and some photographs that haven’t made it online yet. Thank you joining me on my first journey of being an international volunteer and perhaps one day for another trip around the world.

Good night and I leave you with this quote from Henry Rollins.

“I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. Music, culture, food, water. Your showers will become shorter. You’re going to get a sense of what globalization looks like. It’s not what Tom Friedman writes about; I’m sorry. You’re going to see that global climate change is very real. And that for some people, their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can’t get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight. A lot of people—Americans and Europeans—come back and go, ohhhhh. And the light bulb goes on.”